5 Critical Things My Mission President Taught Me.

5 Critical Things My Mission President Taught Me

 

When I was preparing to go home from my mission, our mission president called all the returning missionaries in and gave them this counsel to live by as we return home and start preparing for marriage. Some of these change slightly when you get married, but the principles remain the same. Here are the 5 things my mission president taught me. He called these “The Higher 5”

 

1st. Daily prayer morning and night.

 

He told us that they’ve found when someone falls off the train this is the first step they took. They stopped praying. Never forget to pray in the morning, and at night.

Praying is very important. Without prayer, it is impossible to repent. Without repentance, our soul will get weak, and then we cannot enjoy the full Gift of the Holy Ghost. Make sure you are not just “saying” your prayers, but having real communication with our Father.

 

“How we live our lives increases or diminishes our faith. Prayer, obedience, honesty, purity of thought and deed, and unselfishness increase faith. Without these, faith diminishes.”
~Elder Neil L. Andersen

 

2nd. Daily scripture study.

 

We must always be studying the Book of Mormon, but we cannot forget the other scriptures in our canon. (Old, and New Testaments. Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price.)

When was the last time you read from the Pearl of Great Price? How about the Old Testament? We can’t forsake any of our scriptures. As we read all the canon of our scriptures we learn how they work together, we gain stronger testimonies and receive revelation.

 

3rd. Weekly Temple Worship.

 

Set a goal to go to the temple weekly. Strive to worship not just attend. This means to ponder and discreetly pray in the Temple. Try to set a specific time every week that you go. Go to the Temple when you’re struggling, and you need help to repent, or resist temptation. If you live far away from a temple, set a goal to regularly attend. The temple is an antidote for pride.

I had never heard that going to the Temple helps you repent. But this one has become super important to me, I’ve fallen in love with the Temple, it took many months of attending before I realized that one of the big reasons I love going is, that I feel the same Spirit I did when I was a missionary.

 

“We can choose to humble ourselves by getting to the temple more frequently.”
Ezra Taft Benson

 

4th. Weekly Family Home Evening.

 

Sadly, this one is often overlooked. If you’re single find an FHE group either in your YSA ward or with your roommates. It is important that you hold a weekly FHE.

This one is different. The others you can do alone. But this one requires others, it requires putting yourself out there. But it is worth it. I can and do notice the difference when I go to my YSA Ward’s FHE or hold it with those I live with and when I don’t. Monday is always an interesting day and I feel that FHE is God’s attempt to reset the week.

“Family home evening is for everyone. It is for families with parents and children, for families with just one parent, and for parents who have no children at home. It is for home evening groups of single adults and for those who live alone or with roommates…. Regular participation in family home evening will develop increased personal worth, family unity, love for our fellow men, and trust in our Father in heaven.” (Family Home Evening,1976)

~The First Presidency

 

5th. Weekly attendance of our three-hour church block.

 

Always attend Sunday School and Priesthood/Relief Society. Sometimes you will be tempted to skip out from your classes, you must not do that.

This one reminds me of a story from Elder Fisher, a missionary I served with. When he was baptized in college, his Bishop came up to him and asked, “Are you going to come to Priesthood?” He replied, “I should be today.” The Bishop replied. “I did not ask about today, I meant from here on out.” Elder Fisher told me that at that moment he decided and replied: “I will always go to my Priesthood meetings”.

 

Conclusion

 

I challenge you to decide today, to live by these five things. Don’t put off that discussion to later, make it today, and follow through. If you do, you will feel the Spirit stronger in your life, you will feel the power that comes from following through on these five principles of feeding your Spirit. Always live by these principles, the application may change, but the blessings remain the same.